A few minutes ago, Microsoft released KB 3036140, which is a big rollup of all patches to date. It supersedes KB 3035129, issued a week ago. You can get the patch by heading over to Windows Update (Start > Settings > Update & Recovery > Windows Update), then clicking Check for Updates. If you’ve already installed KB 3035129 and you’re getting the bogus error 0x80246017, you need to click on Retry. Once installed, KB 3036140 requires a restart, which will be automatically scheduled for you.

In my tests, KB 3036140 does not fix the bogus error 0x80246017 bug. KB 3036140 breaks build 9926 in the same way that KB 3035129 broke it, showing you that a new version of Windows 10 is available (likely FBL_AWESOME1501 9935 Professional). When you try to install that new version — which, in fact, is only available to Microsoft’s inner circle — you trigger the 0x80246017 error code.

Although it’s much too early to tell for sure, I haven’t seen any loud remonstrations about systems getting trashed by 3036140.

On the Office side of the fence, Office product management GM Julia White posted an announcement about Office for Windows 10 and a preview of how the touch-first version of Office will evolve with Windows 10.

First, the announcement:

If you’re already in the Windows 10 Technical Preview you can search for Word, Excel and PowerPoint in the new Windows Store Beta today and thank you for helping us test the Office for Windows 10 apps on your touch enabled PC, laptop or tablet.

Then the retraction:

Update 10:30 AM: We’re seeing some reports of issues accessing and downloading the apps. The team is working on a fix now. Please check back later.

The path White presents is certainly enticing:

Office for Windows 10 offers touch-optimized versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote and Outlook that work great on small screen devices like your phone and tablet—all the way up to the Microsoft Surface Hub. They are designed from the ground up to run on Windows 10, built for touch and offer the unmistakable Office experience you know and love. As “universal” Office apps, they truly are the same app across device size, providing a consistent way for independent software vendors and developers to extend and integrate with Office apps.

These new Office apps will be pre-installed for free on phones and small tablets running Windows 10, and available to download from the Windows Store for other devices. The Office universal apps will be available with the Windows 10 Technical Preview in the coming weeks and general availability is on track for later this year.

Presumably, although not explicitly, that means the touch-first version of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, and Outlook will be available for free for anyone with a Windows 10 license. A free Outlook for Windows 10 was a given, based on earlier presentations, but the others were not.

It will be interesting to see if touch-first Outlook for Windows 10 will ship with all versions of Windows 10 or if Microsoft will use a placeholder (please, not the current Metro Mail app) and encourage people to download Outlook for Windows 10 separately.

The feature list and screenshots on White’s Office blog look very similar to Office for iPad, and Office for Android, although the proffered Word for Windows 10’s Insights for Office feature, which is currently available in Word Online only.

With a little luck we’ll find out shortly how Office for Windows 10 will showcase “Windows best” in terms of competing Android/iOS/Windows touch-first features.